family food – tomato and lentil dahl

Last week I was a little inspired to try and test a dahl receipe that I have not cooked for ages. I was inspired by Picklebum’s vegetarian bolognese, and thought, why not try. So this one is for you Kate, as requested..

Ingredients:

1 carrot, grated

2 tsp Cumin Seeds

2 tsp mustard seeds

3 cloves garlic, finely diced

2.5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped finely

1 large onion, peeled and diced

20g vegetable oil

1 tsp garam masala

2 tsp ground tumeric

1 tsp mild chilli powder

400g water

250 coconut milk or cream

230g dried red lentil

1 can diced tomatoes

juice of 2 lines

salt and pepper

fresh coriander to taste

method:

– Grate carrot and set aside

– With a mortar and pestle mill the cumin and mustard seeds

– Add the onion, ginger and garlic to a pot and sauté until soft with the vegetable oil

– Add the grated carrot and sauté for a further 2 minutes

- Add the gram masala, turmeric and chilli powder and sauté for another 2 minutes

– Add the water, coconut milk, lentils and tomatoes and cook for about 20 minutes on a very LOW heat. You want to stir and check on the pot regularly to make sure there is enough liquid.

– Add the lime juice, salt and pepper and a little coriander and cook for a further 5 minutes

Serve with rice or as an accompaniment with your other meals. It was a staple for us for the week, served on the side with fresh fish on one night and koftas on the other. It was yummy.

I have to also add that this recipe is actually intentionally designed for the thermomix so I have adapted it for pot cooking.

This one was an absolute winner and a definite goer for another time.

What is on your menu for this week?

Like what you have just read? Don’t miss a post and sign up to The Parenting Files via email, RSS or the monthly newsletter, which has extra goodies by the way.